


Junior Prom

by ItsStillBeating



Series: Prom Nights [1]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Slow Dancing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-09
Updated: 2015-01-09
Packaged: 2018-03-06 21:31:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3149171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItsStillBeating/pseuds/ItsStillBeating
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Iris gets stood up on the night of her Jr. Prom. This is my idea of what happened on that night, that made Barry so desperate and eager to tell him he loved her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Junior Prom

It was almost eleven, and Barry Allen was at home on the night of junior prom.

There was a good reason for it though.

 It didn’t have anything to do with the fact that he didn’t have a date (he hadn’t asked anyone and had planned to go with friends) or his general nervousness around dancing (he just sort of flailed and jumped and sometimes accidentally punched people).

The reason why Barry was home was to do with something, or rather some _one_ far more important to him than any of that.

Iris Ann Russell West.

Iris looks crestfallen at the moment, though as beautiful as she always does to Barry, hidden light pouring out of her and making the surroundings more interesting. Her hair is wavy, and down her back.

At nine when Iris came down the stairs she took Barry’s breath away and he wanted to say, ‘Wow, Iris you look amazing’, but like the gigantic dork he knows himself to me, he got ‘Wow’ out, and then trailed off. Iris has sort of looked at him hard until he ran away.

Nevertheless, though Iris is still beautiful, hours of pacing have changed the way in which she is.

Iris looks like a goddess of war, with a wrath against a particularly foolish mortal.

 

* * *

 

 

Barry sat up with her for three hours. He promised he would see her off, and three hours later he’d decided to keep going.

He was tempted sorely to march over, and tell her how stupid and unkind this boy was to stand her up, and tell her she was too good for him and hold her and make her happy.

But he was awkward and gangly, and he wasn’t quite at the age in which what he wanted informed his actions so fully and so he stayed put. Iris did as well, though less looking out for a Prince Charming and more looking for the cause of her misery so she could punch him very hard.

Barry isn’t fine with it, but it’s the way it is.

He tries to make her happy, because Iris being happy is the best case scenario in this situation. But he can only try what he knows, and after the seventh science joke with nary a chuckle, he realises he’s being annoying.

Iris wouldn’t ever say that, but he deduces the conclusion from the way she doesn’t look over, her eyes fixed. She simply nods at his punchlines, lips tight and eyes blazing.

 

Seeing her fury makes Barry angry, and he’s angry at everyone in the world, for allowing a world to occur where Iris doesn’t get to go to her Junior Prom. Where Iris, who is part of every school club and team and who has perfect grades and references isn’t allowed to have this school experience. Once, Iris and Barry were the outsiders and in a way, this makes it feel like they still are.

But not in a good way.

* * *

 

Eventually Iris looks up at the clock with all of the glory of a damned but righteous angel and screams a little bit. Her scream starts in her throat and erupts, and it is short but emotive. Tears start to slide down her face and lots more of those little screams come out and Barry is across the room before he can think.

He doesn’t know how to touch her like this. His limbs feel clumsy, he feels as though he’s attempting something delicate, both emotionally and physically and he wants to do it right. By the time Barry has his hands posed about to hold Iris’ shoulder’s Iris turns around, oblivious to his movement and runs upstairs. Barry realises he’s missed his chance.

 

Barry stays downstairs determined to give Iris her space, tie loosened and gripping the arm of the couch so hard his knuckles whiten and harden and become difficult to control.

Iris isn’t just angry at the stupid guy that stood her up now.

He’s angry at himself for being awkward, and scared and inexperienced and not being able to comfort Iris, because of the fact that he doesn’t know what she would do, or how she would feel, or how he would feel.

After changing out of his suit and into his pyjamas he decides to go downstairs and watch some television. Low pressure, and open to when or if Iris decides to come down. But in walking down the close he realises how close she is, and it’s like a magnetic resonance, pulling every fibre of him to the warm wet tear tracks on her face.

 

* * *

 

Barry knocked on the door and Iris opened it immediately, and smiled and burst into tears. Finally Barry knew what to do, and he hugged her, briefly and softly but he did do something. Iris croaks, ‘I’m so embarrassed, Barry. I didn’t want you to see that.’ And all Barry can say is ‘It’s okay, Iris’, though of course he’s not referring to her apology, but the situation.

Barry decides to do the only thing he knows will cheer Iris up, and they tiptoe downstairs and Iris sits on the counter as he mixes raw cookie dough.

With a mouth full of dough Iris starts, ‘All boys are worms apart from you, Bear’, and Barry just about glows. Iris, with her Wonder Woman night dress and her hair in a ponytail thinks he’s special enough to differentiate him from his gender and that’s pretty fantastic.

She continues munching the dough as she starts to explain, ‘Chad called me up, to explain and he started talking this absolute.. well, absolute bullshit about how he’d been out with friends and lost track of time and…’

‘It’s just annoying he didn’t call. I get not showing up…’

‘I don’t.’ Barry says, almost involuntarily, ‘I don’t understand why he wouldn’t want to go with you, I mean he asked _you,_ and even if he hadn’t! You’re well, _you’_. Iris nods hard and smiles at him, then she looks down and continues eating and Barry watches the warmth refill her face as his own heart begins to palpitate.

This is the point where they’re both vulnerable, and pajama clad and slightly delirious with sleep and sugar.

This would be the perfect time to tell her, and Barry tries to force his tongue to move but it doesn’t work and so he doesn’t voice his confession, though he wants to.

Iris hops off the counter, licking the spoon and _god_ she’s breath-taking and being with Iris would be like switching from black and white to Technicolor and being able to ask Iris how she wanted everything and being able to endeavour to make it that way.

Iris walks across to Barry and reaches out for a hug, and he clasps her hard, trying to force his teenage angst and love and infatuation into one physical gesture.

‘I’m glad I don’t have to dance anyways, you’ve seen me!’ says Barry, laughing slightly when Iris pulls away. Iris raises her eyebrow and says, ‘Barry, you dance like any white boy.’ As she hits his nose teasingly. Barry puts his hand on his heart and looks mock affronted, ‘What?’ and Iris laughs and runs over to the radio, turning it up.

‘Okay, Barry, I’ll have mercy on you and teach you a two-step’ and he immediately colours and says ‘Iris, this is stupid’, and Iris looks a bit sad and says.

‘I really just want to dance’.

Oh. _Oh._

Barry grabs one of the daisies from the vase on the table and puts it in his mouth, waggling his eyebrows, ‘Well, if you wanted to dance, you should’ve just said.’ He says in a ridiculous voice, and Iris laughs as he grabs her arms and waltzes her around the kitchen, both of them laughing.

 

* * *

 

The song changes to something sultrier with a beat and Iris kicks off her bunny slippers and says, ‘You promised me a dance, Bear’, and puts her arms around his neck.

He finds her waist, not smoothly and there’s a moment of serious. It starts when Iris looks up at him as they sway softly, and hits his chest lightly, ‘Barry, you’re such a dork!’, and then she’s looking at her hand on his chest and he’s looking at her.

He feels like the breath has been punched out of him, and he knows that under pressure, precious things can shatter, but he also knows that under pressure diamonds are formed, so if he can just lean forward and make Iris aware of the tension, maybe…

Iris steps on both of his feet and uses the leverage to lean against his shoulder, and all of a sudden kissing her doesn’t matter as much. He could do this instead. If Iris and he had a relationship exactly as it was but with this it would be fine.

This is soft, and intimate and there’s nothing awkward or growing about it. Barry feels comfortable and safe with Iris and he lets out a breath as they sway to the beat.

 

* * *

 


End file.
